‘Sulu execs conniving with Abus’

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A nongovernment organization based in the province of Sulu, a turf of the terror group Abu Sayyaf, urged the Senate to investigate what it claimed was “connivance” between local officials and the terrorists.

In a statement, Save Sulu Movement (SSM) said it had “repeatedly informed authorities that the reason the ASG (Abu Sayyaf) is still active and even growing is because it is enjoying the protection of local officials.”

These local officials, which SSM did not identify, “are protecting Abu Sayyaf and receiving a lion’s share of ransom money.”

SSM said the Abu Sayyaf got its weapons “from local politicians who can easily smuggle firearms or purchase it from the military itself.”

While the group did not name any official, it said Ricardo Visaya, former Armed Forces chief and now head of the National Irrigation Administration, had once stated that “governors, vice governors, down to village chiefs” were giving protection to the terrorist group, which had gained notoriety for a spate of kidnappings involving foreign victims.

The Inquirer sought Sulu officials for comment but many did not return calls.

Sulu Vice Gov. Abdusakur Tan Jr. replied by text message, challenging SSM to “name names.” SSM had been formed by Temojen Tulawie, the Tans’ political nemesis.

“Look who’s talking,” said Tan.

SSM said despite Visaya’s statement, “no local official has ever been charged in court.”

No village chief, mayor or governor, the group said, had been arrested or charged with “actually receiving ransom money in the guise of negotiations.”

‘No secret’

“If the connivance is no secret to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, what have they done to stop it?” the group said.

Tulawie, later speaking by phone to Inquirer, said he was “willing to come out in the open and name [those] who are coddling, colluding and supporting these local terrorists.”

He said he was in possession of affidavits of former kidnap victims and negotiators, who could attest to the involvement of local leaders in Abu Sayyaf.

Tulawie said the local officials were often tapped for negotiations because they “condone the Abu Sayyaf group.”

But Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Western Mindanao army chief, said while “a handful of village officials” had supported Abu Sayyaf before, “we are winning them back.”

Galvez defended Tan, saying the vice governor and other high-ranking officials were determined to crush Abu Sayyaf and had been helping the military.

Tulawie said the cycle of violence in Sulu and kidnappings would not stop if the national government did nothing.

He said a law should be enacted classifying ransom payment as a criminal act.

Negotiating with kidnappers, he said, simply “allows the bandits to become stronger.”

Galvez said the Abu Sayyaf had become a problem larger than it appeared but its roots lie in “the dysfunction and absence of governance” in areas where the terrorists operate.